January 9, 2011

Ray Stevens...Critical Reaction, Part 2...

Yikes! Have we got a lot to talk about...

I guess I shouldn't be surprised...actually, I'm not surprised. It's rather annoying but predictable to see people on the far-left of the political spectrum turn the shootings that happened in Arizona on Saturday into a political event. I'm not singling out the liberal blogs on purpose...the reason why I'm singling out the "far-left" is basically because the far-left blogs that are notorious for spreading animosity toward conservatives, the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, and other symbols of the Republican party are the very same blogs that I saw this morning politicizing the Arizona shootings with their reckless rhetoric.

I do blog searches to see what's being said about Ray Stevens...it's something that's become a habit ever since I got a computer. This morning when I checked the latest blogs I saw several recent additions politicizing the Arizona shootings and injecting Ray Stevens' "God Save Arizona" music video as some sort of tool that provoked the anger and violence that took place yesterday. As outrageous as that belief is it's something that's spread around very seriously among liberal blog sites in their quest to demonize and politically destroy their opponents. The murders, chaos, and tragedy that took place should be a non-political issue and all people should condone that kind of behavior.

It's irresponsible to blame the media, celebrities, and political ideology on the actions of unbalanced people. People can disagree about everything and have heated debates about any number of issues...and that should continue to happen. The crazy, unbalanced people in society, however, take things a step too far. It isn't the fault of any media policy, celebrity opinions, political party, or rhetoric that's to blame when things go too far. The only people to blame are the culprits and those who had a hand in carrying out the shootings. Having said that I do feel that there are some organizations out there deliberately spinning this into a political story and attaching the actions of a lone killer to a series of unrelated political viewpoints. How liberal bloggers can go from point A to point B and connect unrelated issues will always remain a mystery...but so far that seems to be their plan.

As irresistible as it may be for liberal blog sites out there to quickly blame Fox News, Republicans, the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, and even Ray Stevens(!) for what happened in Arizona the fact of the matter is you don't have to tone down your rhetoric and you don't have to change the way you deliver your thoughts based upon how unbalanced people will take your words. The notion that people should now "tone down their rhetoric" because it can be taken out of context is nothing more than a form of political correctness. Sane, rational people of all political beliefs can disagree strongly with one another without taking it a step further and using violence...that's what separates the sane from the insane...the balanced from the unbalanced.

I do happen to feel that there are a lot of unbalanced people who frequent chat-rooms and social media outlets and spew all kinds of incoherent hatred about whatever...so yes, when the rantings go beyond simple disagreements and become incoherent rantings, rage, a barrage of non-stop name calling, and in effect become personal that's when I feel things go too far. Proof can be seen in the comments section of any number of the political music videos that Ray Stevens has uploaded onto You Tube. The comments range from praise and enthusiasm, to disagreement, to all-out rage and anger directed at Ray and other people that have shared their comments. The strange thing is, those who disagree with Ray's political views just can't leave it at that...they feel they need to get in a personal jab at Ray, too. I sometimes leave commentary praising his videos and his music but most of the time the incoherent commentators and those who oppose his videos take over the conversation.

An Arizona sheriff in a press conference on Saturday whipped up a lot of conversation and controversy with his rantings about vitriol, hatred, bigotry, rhetoric, and "free speech" by indicating that the very idea that people disagree on political and social issues, use engaging rhetoric in their speech, and have heated debates about those issues is why this killer decided to act on his impulses. It was a totally unprofessional response and unnecessary. Instead of looking for a scape-goat and inserting blame on media outlets, heated political campaigns, and rhetoric on talk shows the Arizona sheriff should have put the blame entirely on the person who committed the crime. Media outlets, political campaigns, and rhetoric in general don't cause the millions of other Americans to murder and terrorize so why would an Arizona sheriff put the blame on those entities for the acts of this killer?

I've also encountered commentary from a wide variety of on-line sites talking down about thought-provoking music. The latest recordings from Ray Stevens would be part of that thought-provoking style. Those offended by thought-provoking songs, I can only assume, must be thoughtless people.

In the meantime the "God Save Arizona" music video from Ray Stevens, released last year, has for now become a talking-point for liberals in their political quests. The video has gotten half a million You Tube hits...and the point of the song was to cast blame on the Federal Government for their position on illegal immigration in Arizona. Isn't it interesting now, in the aftermath of the Arizona shootings, that several of the liberal blog sites want to take a song clearly about the Federal Government's stance on illegal immigration and twist it into being a song inciting the murder and violence that took place on Saturday.

As I remarked earlier...responsible, sane people can argue and disagree without it turning violent. Rational people will put the blame entirely on the killer and whoever helped him and not put the blame on the media, a political ideology, or a celebrity.

Here's the innocent video, uploaded on August 4, 2010, that some of the liberal blogs are currently vilifying...

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About Me

I'm a big fan of what's called classic country music. I love the HEE-HAW television program and I like watching vintage cartoons. I have four blogs...the main one is devoted to Ray Stevens. My Ray Stevens blog is written from a fan's perspective. The opinions and expressions discussed in this blog are of my own creation and should not be taken as representation of Ray Stevens and his office staff. I'm simply a dedicated, though opinionated, fan of Ray's who likes discussing his music and career. This fan-created blog page is something that I started when I got fed up with the lack of accurate information about Ray Stevens that was circulating on the internet.

2012

The Encyclopedia of Recorded Comedy Music became available on February 28th; It's an impressive set featuring 9-CD's and a booklet; There are 108 recordings altogether and the booklet gives in-depth detail about each of the songs and their impact on society; Ray covers practically all the major comedy/novelty songs that have been recorded over the last 60 plus years; It's a marvelous collection!!

2014

Ray's memoir, Nashville, is a great book! If you don't have a copy I suggest you purchase one...any fan of Ray Stevens should get this book.

2016

Ray's recording, "Dear America", demonstrates that America is still the greatest country on Earth regardless of internal conflicts and imperfections; A loving tribute to the country and a defiant plea that the country's values and traditions should still continue to be championed and fought for; Excellent recording!

2017

Season One DVD of Ray's television series; It contains the first 13 episodes broadcast on local PBS stations from earlier this year; These episodes originally aired on RFD-TV but they were repeated on PBS stations starting this past January; Some local PBS stations aired all 26 episodes from the RFD run while other local PBS stations aired the first 13 episodes and then began airing the PBS exclusives which became available over the summer months; Future DVD releases are expected.

2017

Season Two of the Ray Stevens CabaRay Nashville series; This volume consists of episodes guest starring the likes of Bill Anderson, Con Hunley, Williams and Ree, Leroy Van Dyke, and many more!! A perfect companion to Season One; Each season contains 13 half hour episodes.

2018

The Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom officially opened to the public on January 18, 2018; This date is signifcant in the career of Ray Stevens in that it's the date he arrived in Nashville in 1962; The facility houses an entire array of entertainment from the main showroom to a piano bar, a gift shop, and it also houses his recording studios for audio and video productions; The upcoming Sixth Season of his PBS television series, CabaRay Nashville, is being taped at the showroom; These episodes represent the first to be taped at the venue.